Sears Holding Corp has been bleeding cash resulting in the closure of more than 100 of their stores that will result to at least 5,457 employees to lose their jobs. This is according to the report of Seeking Alpha, an investor website.
Report says that Sears are planning to close more stores as they are still experiencing a downward spiral in revenues that continues this year. As of their August report, for the last six months since February, the company has already closed 96 stores and are preparing for the closure of underperforming stores. A total of 130 stores is the target number to shut down operations.
According to Chris Brathwaite, Sears spokesperson, "While this has resulted in store closures where appropriate - decisions that we do not take lightly - we continue to have a substantial nationwide footprint with a presence in many of the top malls in the country."
Brathwaite avoided to give comment about the number of stores they are planning to close. He said that it is their company's strategy to hold on their best performing stores . Store's closure is the company's way to cut costs and generate cash as they are shifting into an "asset-light" business model.
As of August 2, Sears had 793 Sears stores and 1,077 Kmart stores in the United States employing 226,000 of its population. It is reported in Seeking Alpha that a total of 107 stores has been closed since August. These include 30 Sears department stores, 46 Kmart stores, and 31 Sears Auto Centers.
John Kernan, an analyst with Cowen said that, "They have too many stores and they're losing a lot of money, burning cash." Kernan expects that Sears will go out of business in the coming years.
Once known as the biggest employer and one of the largest retailers in the nation, Sears' popularity and domestic revenue evidently declined in the past years.
